Many thanks to all who have contributed articles, they have been terrific.

I have chosen Martin Whitehead's personal video game odyssey as this month's winner, a blog that not only was a fascinating read, but also inspired the Screen Play community to share a lot of their own experiences and joys.

By the end of the weekend, 75,000 people will have visited the fantastic Game On exhibition at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.

ACMI Communications Manager Cory Parfett says the exhibition is doing "fantastically well" and that the wide range of public programs, talks and forums should break ACMI's attendance record set by last year's Pixar: 20 Years of Animation. Already over 17,000 people have participated in the public programs, with more events still to come.

"The interesting stat," adds Mr Parfett, "and no surprise for anyone who has visited the exhibition on weekends, is that the average length of stay for visitors is between 1-2 hours, which is unheard of for peer cultural institutions. With over 120 playable games in the space, people are spending plenty of time trying to play their way through the history of videogames.

"The message to those yet to experience Game On, is go hard and go early (the exhibition opens at 10am everyday) especially on weekends. And a key tip, on Thursdays the exhibition is open until 9pm."

Today keen retro gamer Tim Chmielewski takes his turn to provide a review of the exhibition, which is running until July 13.

James "DexX" Dominguez recently tested our memory of famous gaming catchphrases, but playing Haze this week prompted me to consider that another topic worthy of consideration might be "infamous gaming catchphrases".

You know the ones, those endlessly recycled and frequently inappropriate one-liners that end up driving you completely bonkers.

Incidental dialogue is supposed to make games more atmospheric and immersive, but recycled loops of the same line repeated endlessly has the opposite effect.

Fresh from serving us "You dirty thief, I'll have your hand for that" last year in Assassin's Creed, in Haze Ubisoft presents us with "Remember your promise to Merino". Over and over and over again.

What are some of the oft-repeated lines that have driven you crazy over the years?

Predictably, some of the book's findings have been seized upon by eager gamers looking for scientific validation of a truth they have long known - that violent video games have not turned all kids into crazed murderers.

But the research as a whole confirms neither the views of alarmists nor the video game apologists, and did certainly find a link between violent games and violent behaviour that is very unlikely to occur by chance.

Christian, a 21-year-old Arts student living in Perth who dabbles in philosophy, takes his turn today to explore the phenomena that sees the gaming community so eager to grasp onto anything positive about their favourite past-time that they often repeat the same blinkered behaviour as gaming critics - spinning small pieces of data to support their own agenda.

After polishing off Lego Indiana Jones on Monday, and completing the single-player campaign of Haze in a single sitting on Tuesday, Screen Play's wandering mind naturally turned to the topic of game length.

Hardcore gamers tend to moan a lot about short single-player campaigns, particularly in modern shooters like Haze, or the Halo and Call of Duty titles.

But I suspect there are plenty of older, more "casual" players who have less time on their hands these days for play and who are quite happy to be presented with a story that they can see completed over the course of a few late nights or a lazy weekend.

Those that grumble also routinely discount the countless hours of entertainment that multiplayer modes can offer (although adding a humdrum multiplayer mode can add precious little to a package's overall entertainment value).

As Screen Play's feature on music in games explored last year, music in games has grown in sophistication over the years, and games are now one of the most effective ways for musicians to establish and increase their audience.

Today InstinctSage takes his turn to share his personal musical odyssey, which has been greatly enriched over the years by gaming soundtracks.

InstinctSage is a 25-year-old now works in I.T. service and support and has also dabbled in mapmaking for first-person shooters and platform games. He was last seen in Screen Play looking at the rise of game importing.

Remember that all Your Turn entrants have the chance to win a PlayStation 3 console, with this month's winner to be announced on Friday.

Australia's Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw has rapidly become one of the world's most-loved game reviewers, his popularity evidenced by last week's chaotic scenes at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.

ACMI has asked Yahtzee and Screen Play back for another free event on July 10 at 6pm as part of the final week of the must-see Game On exhibition, and as an acknowledgement of the hundreds of disappointed attendees who missed out on last week's panel on games reviewing.

This time the venue will be larger (the ACMI cinemas), staff will not be caught by surprise if a large crowd turns up (tickets will be available from 10am) and we will chat about a much wider range of game industry issues.

Yahtzee also kindly gave up some of his precious time last week for the interview below, in which he explains the genesis of Zero Punctuation, his reaction to fans, and other topics like the benefits and pitfalls of living in Australia.

My kids and I adored the Lego Star Wars games, but I'm sure there will be plenty of blockheads out there viewing next week's release of Lego Indiana Jones with cynicism.

With three Lego Star Wars games released since 2005, and Lego Batman also on the way, what was once remarkably fresh and original could quickly turn stale and predictable.

Of course, what Indy has going for it beyond its finely honed and wonderfully accessible gameplay, is the affection many players have for the films, as acknowledged by Barbara Gamlen at a recent LucasArts event in Melbourne.

"This game is really going to allow players to relive all the adventures from the original three movies in the Lego tongue in cheek world," Barbara begins, before explaining that the game features 18 missions (six for each movie) and 60 playable characters.

Click below for an in-depth discussion with Nintendo Australia's Managing Director Rose Lappin, who assumed the role last October after over a decade in sales and marketing at the house of Mario.

In the wide-ranging interview, Ms Lappin covers topics like Nintendo's current market dominance, the quality of third party games for Wii, cracked DS consoles, Club Nintendo, the delays to Super Smash Bros Brawl, environmental concerns, girl gamers and why Wii Fit is a bigger game than Grand Theft Auto IV.

Ms Lappin even responds to Michael Ephraim's now-famous accusation that the Wii is "pricey"...

Activision has confirmed one of the industry's worst-kept secrets - the next Guitar Hero game will feature drums and a microphone.

But Guitar Hero World Tour also has new weapons in its battle against MTV's Rock Band (which is still yet to be released in Australia) including an innovative music studio that lets players compose, record, edit and share their own music.

There's also an eight-player "Battle of the Bands" mode, a redesigned wireless guitar, and downloadable content for all platforms, including Wii.

The game will be released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and PS2 formats. The full press release is below.

Noted philosopher Dan Quayle once remarked "the future will be better tomorrow", while the "noir prophet" of science fiction, William Gibson, believes "the future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet".

I'm sure both great minds would concede that the future is very hard to predict.

I spent much of yesterday contemplating the future of interactive entertainment after receiving a story brief on "future concepts and trends in gaming" for an upcoming magazine in The Age.

Some of my observations about where we are all heading can be found below. Feel free to make your own predictions in the comments section, or dispute the probability of mine...

With Nintendo launching its WiiWare online service in Australia this week, Screen Play has put together a quick update on digital distribution for new Fairfax youth portal The Vine.

Regardless of whether you are a console or PC gamer, there is now an appetising smorgasbord of tasty treats ready for download straight to your machine. And pleasingly, digital distribution is encouraging some developers to innovate.

One of the first games available for download via WiiWare, Lost Winds from David Braben's Frontier Developments, is validation that digital distribution can encourage games developers to experiment with new ideas.

Lost Winds is exactly the kind of quirky concept that many publishers would consider too offbeat to release as a full-priced boxed product. But at the bargain price of $15, it is a must-buy for Wii owners, even if it is a joy that is sadly short-lived.

It deprives the creators of the games that entertain us so much with their rightful income, and is now so rampant on the PC that many publishers are turning their back on the format altogether.

Piracy might even be responsible for the increasing homogeneity of game releases, with publishers reticent to release quirky titles for fear of not recouping their investment. But it would be hard to find any gamer who has not been guilty of software theft at some stage in their life.

Ashley, the "unofficial IT guy" at his state government department in Perth, takes his turn today for a cathartic confession. A confession of a reformed pirate.

Click below for his piece, and feel free to make your own confessions in the comments section.

As evidenced by the reaction to dylillama's Your Turn blog recently, as well as Screen Play's piece on the issue last year, there is growing concern from gamers about environmental issues.

Although Sony in particular is already undertaking some recycling of PlayStation consoles, it is time that all console manufacturers not only phased out hazardous materials in their machines but also offered recycling programs for unwanted hardware.

Such schemes are unlikely to be prohibitively expensive - it is doubtful whether many (usually much cherished) gaming machines go into landfill like old computers do - they are usually kept, passed on or sold.

But it is clear that growing numbers of consumers now expect console manufacturers to provide them with a product that is as environmentally friendly as it is entertaining.

Over half a million SingStar microphones are now in Australian homes and regularly suffering the indignity of having inebriated party guests using them to perform Cyndi Lauper and Delta Goodrem impersonations.

Next week's SingStar Party Hits will be the 12th PS2 compilation released in Australia since 2004, while the debut PS3 version released before Christmas has also been incredibly popular.

Each PS3 SingStar owner has downloaded an average of six songs, and over 20,000 performance videos have been uploaded for the world to giggle at.

While visiting Sony's London Studio earlier this month, Screen Play caught up with the lovely Paulina Bozek, executive producer of SingStar, to talk about exhibitionists, The Beatles, and the future of one of Sony's biggest franchises.

Australians did not have to wait long after their overseas cousins for Nintendo's WiiWare service, with the first downloadable games available on the Wii Shop Channel from today.

Whereas Nintendo's Virtual Console service allows consumers to download classic games from systems like the SNES, N64 and Megadrive, WiiWare offers brand new titles and is an opportunity for video game developers to create innovative new games.

"The combination of low development barriers and unique game experiences, through use of the Wii remote, will enable developers to try new ideas with lower risk in a quicker, more creative and affordable way," says Nintendo in today's launch announcement.

Games to be released this week include Lost Winds, Star Soldier R, Dr Mario & Germ Buster, Toki Tori Take 2, TV Show King and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King.

Martin Whitehead is jealous of all those young whippersnappers who obviously get a lot more time to play video games than he does.

But Martin is extremely thankful he was alive to witness the birth of interactive games, and has been fascinated with them ever since, now passing his obsession onto his kids.

Martin, a mainframe applications developer from Melbourne who is currently working for a major financial institution in Perth, also enjoys travel, sport, heavy metal music, and of course spending time with his family.

There was an interesting feature on the future of gaming consoles published in this week's Icon section in The Sydney Morning Herald.

Some experts have begun to speculate about a future "virtual console" model reminiscent of the "thin client computer" championed by Oracle last decade.

In the virtual console universe, the hardware would fade into the background to become little more than a hub while new releases of games, accessories, upgrades and other home entertainment and internet applications, would be delivered via software and firmware updates.

Today I'm keen to hear whether you think this vision of the future is realistic.

I suspect that Microsoft in particular will be reluctant to suffer the same research and development and manufacturing costs for another high-powered console, and that their next machine is likely to be equally focused on delivering video-based downloadable entertainment as games via a much-cheaper set-top box.

The Screen Play community is extremely passionate and knowledgeable about games, which can sometimes be intimidating for beginners.

Thankfully, James "DexX" Dominguez comes to the rescue today with a handy guide to "tech buzzwords for the clueless".

You might recognise DexX from previous contributions to our Your Turn series of user-generated blogs, including his equally informative article on the history of procedural content and his stirring piece on the emotional impact of games.

Click below to further your video game education, and feel free to suggest your own definitions for commonly used gaming terms.

It was extraordinary to witness the popularity of Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of Zero Punctuation fame yesterday at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.

Yahtzee, Screen Play and Stephen "Bajo" O'Donnell from Good Game held a panel session as part of ACMI's excellent Game On exhibition to discuss some of the finer points of game reviewing. There was little doubt as to who everyone had come to see.

Yahtzee's popularity ensured that there were many unfortunate attendees who could not get into ACMI's Screen Pit for the session. I popped out for a quick squiz before the session begun, and it seemed there were hundreds of eager gamers lined up who would miss out on a seat.

Ben was mobbed after the session and ACMI provided a security guard to get him out of the building, but not before he posed for some photos with fans and signed items like games consoles.

Screen Play looked at the promising Star Wars epic The Force Unleashed earlier in the year, but LucasArts held an event on Monday offering journalists the chance to get hands-on with the Wii version, an opportunity not to be missed.

Character movement is handled with the Nunchuk's analog stick and Force powers initiated with simple button presses, but players will be most excited about being able to use the Wii Remote in left/right, up/down and stab motions for lightsaber combat.

The Duel mode, exclusive to the Wii version, lets you battle friends controlling characters like Obi-Wan, Anakin, Vader, Luke, Darth Maul and General Grievous, and looks to be a significant addition to the game, which is due to be released in Australia on September 17.

The duels proved a lot of fun as we traded lightsaber blows, lightning bolts and Force pushes (performed by thrusting the Nunchuk forwards). It was particularly amusing to use the Force to grab items and hurl them at your hapless opponent, or just throw your rival into lava or a Sarlacc pit.

Screen Play also chatted with Lead Programmer Trevor Powell from Krome Studios in Melbourne (formerly Melbourne House) for the interview below. Krome is handling the Wii version of The Force Unleashed, as well as the PS2 and PSP games, while the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions are being developed by LucasArts.

Hollywood is running out of ideas and comic books to pillage, so video games are now seen as attractive fodder for the big screen.

Undeterred by bombs like Doom, Dead or Alive, BloodRayne and anything Uwe Boll churns out, the latest game to head to Hollywood is BioShock, courtesy of Universal Pictures and Gore Verbinski, Director of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Trouble is, even though some game adaptations have made money, like Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat, Hitman and Silent Hill, gamers routinely complain that films do not do justice to their source material.

Gamers can meet fast-talking celebrity reviewer Ben Croshaw of Zero Punctuation fame on Sunday at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.

"Yahtzee" joins Screen Play and Stephen "Bajo" O'Donnell from Good Game to argue over the finer points of game reviewing, offering insights into the best and worst moments of playing games for a living.

Held as part of the Game On exhibition at ACMI, the panel will be held at the Screen Pit at 2pm and entry is free, so make sure you come along, even if it's just to heckle or throw fruit.

There is also a forum at 6pm tonight in ACMI's cinema 1 on violence in games featuring Bond University's Jeff Brand, Mark Finn from Swinburne, and author and educator Kevin Donnelly.

If that topic is too heavy for your liking, Nintendo is simultaneously holding training sessions tonight in the Screen Pit for beginners wanting to learn the intricacies of Nintendogs and Animal Crossing on DS. Giveaways and exclusive downloads will be available.

But it seems like it's been over a decade since the mass-market really got excited about a Formula One game (with PSone's brilliant F1 97 by Psygnosis) so today I'm interested to hear what you think Codemasters could do to make F1 games fun again.

Auran is trying to breathe life into its troubled Fury online game by offering thousands of cash prizes totaling $25,000.

Unlike another Australian-developed game, Micro Forte's poorly received gambling-orientated Kwari, Fury League is free to play, with the first "Cash Ladder" begging on May 20 offering prizes ranging from $5 to $250.

Tony Hilliam, Auran CEO says the competition has been arranged to resemble sport rather than a traditional computer game.

"We want to encourage friendly rivalry and competition between players on a weekly basis rather than opting for larger more infrequent prizes that reward only the top few players," Mr Hilliam said.

For many people who are passionate about playing interactive games, it's only natural to be curious about whether you could be successful making your own.

But because the games industry is still adolescent and fast changing, getting information on careers in the development industry can be difficult.

Long-time Screen Play reader Zoid is in his late 20s and currently working in the engineering field doing design and 3D CAD modeling. He is investigating game development as a radical career change, and trying his hand at 3D animation, physics and programming.

Click below for what Zoid has discovered about the industry so far, and remember that the Ballarat Get into Games event is being held tomorrow...

When Phil Harrison first unveiled PlayStation Home, it appeared that Sony had again found a clever way of tapping into the zeitgeist and an application which could entice millions of people to buy its PS3 console.

Using a classy online world, in one swoop Sony could capitalise on many major digital trends: the popularity of Second Life, The Sims and World of Warcraft, the ubiquity of YouTube and MySpace, avatar and virtual space customisation, online chat, in-game achievements, multiplayer larks and more.

But the delays to PlayStation Home have caused many people to question whether Sony can actually deliver such an ambitious online service, and caused Sony itself to scale back Home's focus to concentrate on the gaming community.

The good news for PS3 owners is that demonstrations of Home at last week's PlayStation event in London showed the integration of multiplayer action into the service is impressive, and should help achieve Sony's aim of facilitating online play with like-minded players.

At Sony's London Studio, Screen Play caught up with PlayStation Home's Creative Director Ron Festejo, Lead Artist John Venables and Producer Mike Rouse for the interview below.

With the world consuming more and more electronic products every year, e-waste is a growing problem, particularly with many products containing toxic chemicals and heavy metals that pollute landfill sites.

Greenpeace has scolded Microsoft and Nintendo in particular for not phasing out hazardous materials from its game consoles.

Today, "insufferable lefty" dylillama takes his turn to explore whether gamers should start having an environmental conscience when it comes to choosing gaming products, and what gamers can do to encourage console manufacturers to adopt more green-friendly practices.

Click below for his piece, and I will be keen to hear what the rest of the Screen Play community thinks on this important issue.

For those who haven't been assaulted by Nintendo's advertising blitz, Wii Fit was released in Australia last week.

I'm keen to hear from Wii owners who have succumbed to curiosity and splashed out on the $150 package because I found writing a review on Wii Fit extremely difficult.

There's no doubt that Nintendo has achieved the seemingly impossible - making daily exercise actually fun - but for those simply chasing a giggle, Wii Fit is an expensive (and probably very short-lived) novelty.

The value obtained from the package is likely to be determined by how much hard yakka you are prepared to put in.

What cannot be denied is that the balance board is a superbly built peripheral.

The release of a new Grand Theft Auto has triggered the usual concern from video game critics worried about the impact of the game on children.

Unfortunately, critics are often ignorant of the medium they seek to condemn, and despite gaming's popularity there is still a lack of research on the impact of interactive games on players.

Public health researcher Dr. Cheryl Olson, author of "Grand Theft Childhood", set out to help educate parents, teachers, doctors and policymakers, examining whether popular assumptions that link violent behaviour to violent games have any basis, and even explore whether some violent play can actually be healthy.

In a $1.5 million study funded by the US Department of Justice, Dr Olson and co-author Lawrence Kutner studied real children and real families in real situations, and what they found "surprised, encouraged, and sometimes disturbed them", confirming neither the views of alarmists nor the video game industry.

Dr Olson, who also teaches at the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, kindly took time out from her busy schedule for the interview below.

California's Insomniac studio has already created two of the PlayStation 3's most popular and highest rated titles - Resistance and Ratchet and Clank Future - and is gearing up to deliver its third in November.

You could never accuse the studio of being lazy or unreliable, yet Insomniac President Ted Price says many lessons have been learned that will help ensure Resistance 2 is their best PS3 title yet.

Price says Resistance 2 will have four main elements - campaign, co-op, competitive and community - each with an equal focus.

The articulate and passionate Price gives an introduction to the game below, and took time out at the busy PlayStation Day yesterday to chat to Screen Play.

Sony will experiment with a TV-style episodic game for the first time later this year, delivering the next instalment in its underappreciated Forbidden Siren series of horror games in a dozen downloadable chapters.

The first episode of Siren Blood Curse for PlayStation 3 will be made available via the PlayStation Network in the next few months.

The game is set in the Japanese village of Hanuda, where a US television crew arrive to research the legend of the "Vanished Village" where human sacrifice is said to have taken place 30 years ago.

Players discover the horrific curse that haunts Hanuda and battle to save the village's survivors from the living dead using the innovative Sight-Jack system to view events from the angle of undead pursuers.

PlayStation 3 has already passed Xbox 360 sales in the key battleground of Europe, with Sony announcing today it has sold over five million PS3 consoles despite Microsoft's 16-month head start.

Sony revealed the news today at a special invitation-only "PlayStation Day" event in London, but there were few other significant announcements.

Killzone 2 will help continue the PS3's recent momentum when it is launched in February next year, while the gorgeous LittleBigPlanet has been confirmed for release in October.

Sony says its other marquee titles for the year ahead are Resistance 2, Buzz Quiz TV, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Haze and newly titled MotorStorm Pacific Rift, the sequel to the fast-paced launch title that has shifted over three million copies.

Or perhaps you have compared your scores or times to an online leaderboard and been convinced that the playing field was not even? Today's Your Turn columnist, 'Dylillama' certainly has.

Dylillama is a frustrated public servant and musician in his mid-twenties, with a love for games dating back to Dark Castle on the Mac Plus. He was last seen on Screen Play exploring issues around political ideologies in modern games.

Click below for his latest piece, and let us know whether you have ever been tempted to cheat...

Sony is hosting a special "PlayStation Day" on Tuesday (UK time) hosted by SCEI President Kaz Hirai and promise to share "exciting new developments".

My visit also includes the opportunity to chat to PS3 and PSP developers, get hands-on with titles like MotorStorm 2, LittleBigPlanet and Killzone 2, and visit some local studios. Please let me know if there's anything PlayStation flavoured you would like me to chase up.

I hope you enjoy a full week of Your Turn columns in my absence - there are some great entries which I'm sure will prompt plenty of debate. I will also be posting news from London as soon as it comes to hand - likely to be Wednesday Australian time.

Seminal space trading game Elite from 1984 was one of the first video games to capture the imagination of millions of gamers around the world.

Being able to explore the eight galaxies of the game's universe was a wondrous experience, and it staggered the mind how such an enormous and amazing universe could be reproduced by such limited technology as the BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 home computers.

The magic was procedurally generated - technology which is again setting game studios abuzz nearly 25 years after Elite thanks to Will Wright's upcoming Spore.

Today James "DexX" Dominguez gives us a history lesson on procedural content and explores why the technology has so much potential for today's game developers. Click below for his highly informative piece.

One of the strengths of the game is its fantastic characters and rich story, in which many protagonists are chasing their version of the American dream.

Games are not typically known for their stories. As I wrote recently, there has always been an inherent tension between storytelling and interactivity - it is difficult to present a deep narrative that does not sacrifice player autonomy.

The good news is that developers are now investing more resources into crafting deeper tales, and today Screen Play is keen to hear your nominations for your favourite game stories.

A recent GamesRadar feature had a decent stab at it, nominating games with great narratives like Metal Gear Solid, Grim Fandango, The Longest Journey, Beyond Good and Evil, BioShock, Fallout 2, Final Fantasy VI and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, but also strangely the likes of Portal, GTA San Andreas, Astro Boy: Omega Factor and God of War.

OK, I admit it. I learned the word "prophylactic" from playing the original Leisure Suit Larry on a Compaq "portable PC" my father lugged home from work.

Who says games can't be educational?

Scott Longmuir is a 27-year-old Melbourne writer and "PlayStationiac" who's been playing games since Dig-Dug made his way to the Amstrad PC. Scott believes gaming is a learning experience, even if that excuse never worked with his parents.

In today's Your Turn column, Scott shows how learning can be fun. Click below for his piece, and let us know what you've learned from video games.

Naturally all recent focus has been on Grand Theft Auto IV, but DS owners hankering for something new should investigate new Square Enix role player The World Ends with You, out now in Australia thanks to Ubisoft.

It's easy to be cynical about a game that is trying so desperately hard to be cool. The trendy Shibuya (Tokyo) setting, the stylish teen characters, the fantastic visuals and soundtrack, and the use of hip clothing and mobile phones as key games devices are all deliberately aimed at pleasing a fashion-conscious audience.

But this is definitely not a case of style over substance.

The World Ends with You is actually one of the most innovative, interesting and deep games of the year, and might even be considered as a bold and exciting new direction for the role playing genre.

Video games are the new pop. Australians now spend more money on shooters and sims than hip hop and punk rock. Debate the latest news and trends in interactive entertainment with award-winning games writer Jason Hill.

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